System and method for providing a visualization of safety events of a process control system over time

Abstract

A system and method for visualizing safety events within a process plant includes accessing a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein the set of causes and the set of effects are representative of a set of monitored safety events within the process plant. The system and method further includes receiving a selection of a monitored safety event of the set of monitored safety events. The system and method may also include displaying, in a user interface, (i) an indication of the monitored safety event, and (ii) a current status of the monitored safety event. The system and method may also include detecting a change in status to the monitored safety event. Further, the system and method may include displaying, in the user interface, an updated status of the monitored safety event according to the change in status.

What is claimed: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method of visualizing safety events within a process plant, the method comprising:
 accessing a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein each of the set of causes represents a condition within the process plant and each of the set of effects represents an effect to be performed within the process plant, wherein each of the set of effects are related to one or more causes of the set of causes as one or more cause-effect pairs whereby a corresponding effect activates in response to an occurrence of one or more corresponding causes, and wherein each of a set of monitored safety events within the process plant corresponds to the one or more cause-effect pairs; 
 receiving, via a user interface, a selection of a monitored safety event of the set of monitored safety events; 
 determining, a first status of the monitored safety event at a first time, wherein the first status indicates a safety level of the monitored safety event corresponding to a safety logic of the CEM, where the safety level indicates a degree of degradation from a normal operating state based on the one or more cause-effect pairs corresponding to the monitored safety event, where the degree of degradation is determined based on a number of the one or more cause-effect pairs that have been tripped out of a total number of the one or more cause-effect pairs corresponding to the monitored safety event; 
 detecting a change in status to the monitored safety event indicating that the number of the one or more cause-effect pairs that have been tripped has changed; 
 in response to the change in status:
 determining a second status of the monitored safety event at a second time according to the change in status; and 
 displaying, in the user interface, an indication of the monitored safety event over time including at least the first status and the second status. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein detecting the change in status to the monitored safety event comprises:
 in response to a time period expiring, detecting the change in status to the monitored safety event. 
 
     
     
       3. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the indication of the monitored safety event comprises:
 displaying the first status of the monitored safety event as a first graphical object; and 
 displaying the second status of the monitored safety event as a second graphical object different from the first graphical object. 
 
     
     
       4. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the indication of the monitored safety event comprises:
 displaying the first status of the monitored safety event as at least two first graphical objects; and 
 displaying the second status of the monitored safety event as at least two second graphical objects. 
 
     
     
       5. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the indication of the monitored safety event comprises:
 determining a degree of change between the first status and the second status of the monitored safety event; and 
 displaying, in the user interface, the degree of change. 
 
     
     
       6. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in response to a time period expiring, determining that the second status of the monitored safety event did not change; and 
 displaying, in the user interface, an indication that the second status of the monitored safety event is unchanged. 
 
     
     
       7. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the user interface, a selection of the second status of the monitored safety event, wherein the monitored safety event has a set of associated conditions; and 
 displaying, in the user interface, a condition status for each of the set of associated conditions. 
 
     
     
       8. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the user interface, a selection of the second status of the monitored safety event, wherein the monitored safety event has an associated condition that is present; and 
 displaying, in the user interface, an indication of a device within the process plant that is causing the associated condition to be present. 
 
     
     
       9. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing, in memory, data representative of the monitored safety event, the first status of the monitored safety event, and the second status of the monitored safety event. 
 
     
     
       10. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying, in the user interface, an additional indication of an additional monitored safety event over time including at least an additional first status and an additional second status. 
 
     
     
       11. A system for visualizing safety events within a process plant, comprising:
 a user interface; 
 a memory configured to store (i) a set of computer-executable instructions, and (ii) a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein each of the set of causes represents a condition within the process plant and each of the set of effects represents an effect to be performed within the process plant, wherein each of the set of effects are related to one or more causes of the set of causes as one or more cause-effect pairs whereby a corresponding effect activates in response to an occurrence of one or more corresponding causes, and wherein each of a set of monitored safety events within the process plant corresponds to the one or more cause-effect pairs; 
 a processor interfaced with the user interface and the memory, and configured to execute the set of computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to:
 receive, via the user interface, a selection of a monitored safety event of the set of monitored safety events, 
 determine, a first status of the monitored safety event at a first time, wherein the first status indicates a safety level of the monitored safety event corresponding to a safety logic of the CEM, where the safety level indicates a degree of degradation from a normal operating state based on the one or more cause-effect pairs corresponding to the monitored safety event, where the degree of degradation is determined based on a number of the one or more cause-effect pairs corresponding to the monitored safety event that have tripped out of a total number of the one or more cause-effect pairs corresponding to the monitored safety event, 
 detect a change in status to the monitored safety event indicating that the number of the one or more cause-effect pairs that have been tripped has changed, 
 in response to the change in status:
 determine a second status of the monitored safety event at a second time according to the change in status, and 
 cause the user interface to display an indication of the monitored safety event over time including at least the first status and the second status. 
 
 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein to detect the change in status to the monitored safety event, the processor is configured to:
 in response to a time period expiring, detect the change in status to the monitored safety event. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , wherein to cause the user interface to display the indication of the monitored safety event, the processor is configured to:
 cause the user interface to display the first status of the monitored safety event as a first graphical object, and 
 cause the user interface to display the second status of the monitored safety event as a second graphical object different from the first graphical object. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 11 , wherein to cause the user interface to display the indication of the monitored safety event, the processor is configured to:
 cause the user interface to display the first status of the monitored safety event as at least two first graphical objects, and 
 cause the user interface to display the second status of the monitored safety event as at least two second graphical objects. 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 11 , wherein to cause the user interface to display the indication of the monitored safety event, the processor is configured to:
 determine a degree of change between the first status and the second status of the monitored safety event, and 
 cause the user interface to display the degree of change. 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 in response to a time period expiring, determine that the second status of the monitored safety event did not change, and 
 cause the user interface to display an indication that the second status of the monitored safety event is unchanged. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 receive, via the user interface, a selection of the second status of the monitored safety event, wherein the monitored safety event has a set of associated conditions, and 
 cause the user interface to display a condition status for each of the set of associated conditions. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 receive, via the user interface, a selection of the second status of the monitored safety event, wherein the monitored safety event has an associated condition that is present, and 
 cause the user interface to display an indication of a device within the process plant that is causing the associated condition to be present. 
 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 store, in the memory, data representative of the monitored safety event, the first status of the monitored safety event, and the second status of the monitored safety event. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 cause the user interface to display an additional indication of an additional monitored safety event over time including at least an additional first status and an additional second status. 
 
     
     
       21. A computer-implemented method of visualizing safety events within a process plant, the method comprising:
 accessing safety logic corresponding to the process plant having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein each of the set of causes represents a condition within the process plant and each of the set of effects represents an action to be performed within the process plant, wherein each of the set of effects are related to one or more causes as cause-effect pairs whereby a corresponding effect activates in response to an occurrence of one or more corresponding causes, and wherein each of a set of monitored safety events within the process plant corresponds to one or more of the cause-effect pairs; 
 receiving, via a user interface, a selection of a monitored safety event of the set of monitored safety events; 
 determining, a current status of the monitored safety event, wherein the current status indicates a safety level of the monitored safety event corresponding to the safety logic, where the safety level indicates a degree of degradation from a normal operating state based on the one or more cause-effect pairs corresponding to the monitored safety event, where the degree of degradation is determined based on a number of the one or more cause-effect pairs corresponding to the monitored safety event that have been tripped out of a total number of the one or more cause-effect pairs corresponding to the monitored safety event; 
 displaying, in the user interface, the current status of the monitored safety event. 
 
     
     
       22. The computer implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 displaying, in the user interface, a menu of one or more representation types for the monitored safety event; 
 receiving, via the user interface, a selection of a representation type; and 
 displaying, in the user interface, the current status of the monitored safety event according to the representation type. 
 
     
     
       23. The computer implemented method of  claim 22 , wherein the representation type is one or more of a symbol, a color, a graphic, a line, a numeric display. 
     
     
       24. The computer implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the user interface, a selection of a second monitored safety event; and 
 displaying, via the user interface and coincidentally with the current status of the monitored safety event, a current status of the second monitored safety event. 
 
     
     
       25. The computer implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining that the selected monitored safety event corresponds to an effect from the set of effects; and 
 displaying, via the user interface, information related to one or more conditions that correspond to the effect. 
 
     
     
       26. The computer implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the selection of the monitored safety event is a first selection, the method further comprising:
 receiving, via the user interface, a second selection of an element of the user interface displaying the current status of the monitored safety event; and 
 displaying, via the user interface, a view of the system configuration including a device corresponding to the selected element. 
 
     
     
       27. The computer implemented method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 determining that the monitored safety event corresponds to an effect corresponding to one or more conditions of the process plant; and 
 displaying, via the user interface, an indication of each of the conditions.